More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message!I closed the last episode of this series, with the words, "Our hearts follow our treasures. If we aren't surrendering our treasures to God, then we're robbing God of our hearts." Do you understand God doesn't need our money. He wants our hearts. And if we chase God with all our hearts, He promises to open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out an uncontainable blessing. If we pursue God with all our hearts, here is the promise, God says, "I will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out uncontainable blessings."Ask yourself the question, "Is my life overflowing with God's blessings?" 

Send me a Text Message!This message was given on Father's Day as part of our summer Psalms series. And here is the heart of the message. Before we ever talk about the kind of fathers we need to be, we need to talk about the Father we long for. I really believe that in every heart, there is a father we long for. I know we come with mixed emotions on Father's Day. But before we talk about the kind of fathers we want to be, weshould talk about the kind of Father we have. He's described in Psalm 103. We long for a Father, for a Father God who loves us unconditionally, unrelentingly, with His whole heart. See before I can be a good father, I need to have a good Father. And in the journey of become a good father, I need to understand where the journey starts.  It's not about trying harder, it's about looking higher.He is the father our hearts long for...

Send me a Text Message!Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah and we are going to detour to some of Malachi's words in this episode. As the people make their commitment to return to God, Malachi's words seem so appropriate. Malachi tells God's people how to return to God, why they are missing God. Malachi spoke to a generation of  Israelites who, like many of us today, were chasing everything other than God. Some of us keep wondering why we never run into God, but we can't run into God while we are chasing other stuff. There are really only two directions inlife, either chasing God or running from God. So how do we return? It could involve many things...but let's not miss the map God gave in Malachi's day. If you want to return, stop robbing God. We would probably expect God to say, "If you want to return to me, Pray more. Dive into the Bible." Both are incredibly important! But what does God say? "Stop robbing me." Are you robbing God?

Send me a Text Message!I believe that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. It keeps us from life and leads us to addiction. It ravages marriages, breaks families, and hardens hearts.  It drains joy and reaps discouragement. It causes us to care about so much that matters so little. A sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem. But even more importantly, or at least more personally, my sin-soaked heart is my greatest problem. But my greatest hope is that we are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God. He is in pursuit of you. He's already pursued you all the way to the cross. If He went that far, He won't stop. Sometimes chasing God is as simple as stop running, and turn around. Give Him your ears. Give Him your heart. Become one of His love stories.

Send me a Text Message!Let's be honest, we don't like the concept of sin. Sin involves moral absolutes and judgement. Sin has consequences. We prefer the word mistake. A mistake is an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning. I'm not bad. I just didn't have all the information. I wasn't thinking clearly. Didn't know any better. I tried, but I'm not perfect. At worst I was careless, it's an oops, my bad, get over it. I'm sorry you were hurt, get over it.Oops, didn't mean to hurt you. Oops, I didn't know any better. Oops I got angry, but you made me. Oops didn't mean to say that... out loud. Be honest, would you rather be a sinner or an oopster? But here's the deal. What if we're not oopsters, we're sinners. If that's the case then, I desperately need the compassionate heart of a merciful, grace giving God!Are you an oopster?

Send me a Text Message!You wouldn't necessarily expect to find it oozing out of the Old Testament, but Nehemiah 9 gives us a fresh look at the heart of God. Listen, there has never been a moment in your life where God's love for you has dipped below the red-line. It never fails. Unfailing love. There is no one else in your life who will not fail you. But his love never fails.  You are relentlessly loved with an indiscriminate affection. That's the story he's writing. That's His voice you hear whispering, "Child come home."  His heart is for you. And when we know his heart.. Our only response is to return. This is the essence of repentance. This is why we look deeply at our sin. It's not to lash our hearts with shame and guilt. It's not to motivate us to work harder. It's because this is what returning looks like. So, is it time to return?

Send me a Text Message!One of the ways that my stream of Christianity likes to describe our faith is with the words, "A personal relationship with God." It's not about religion, it's about relationship, a personal relationship with God. But what in the world does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? In Psalm 46:10, it starts with these words, "Be still and know that I am God."Usually when we think of the stillness, we think of quiet; a lack of distractions and in our world today, the noise is part of our problem. I'm not saying we don't need quiet. But when God says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." it's a far deeper call than just "be quiet." The Hebrew word means stop striving. Literally let your arms hang down and your hands go slack. Stop fighting. Relax. Quit trying to measure up. Give up. Hands up. Let it go. And watch me be God.  That's at the heart of this message in answer to the question, "Do you know God?"

Send me a Text Message!In the last episode, I encouraged us to ask God for more. But here's the reality, too often we are satisfied to settle for something less than all God has for us. Why are we satisfied to settle for less? Are we satisfied to settle for less purity in our hearts? Are we satisfied to settle for less people following Jesus? Are we satisfied with the state of our relationships. Are we satisfied with the degree to which we know God and experience his presence in our lives? Or do we want more? In this episode, we'll ponder a couple of reasons why we settle for less and I will encourage you, "Don't be satisfied with less, because there is more!"

Send me a Text Message!Someone asked me years ago, "What do you picture when you keep talking about and praying for an awakening, for a revival. The question surprised me, not that it was asked but because I didn't have a quick answer. But as I've thought about it, while it is as varied as the creative work of God. If I could give it just one word, it would be the word, MORE. I just want more. More Jesus. More of His Spirit. More glory. More neighbors being loved. More holiness. More power in prayer. More people coming more alive to the glory of God and the love of Jesus. More joy. More presence.God cannot be manipulated, but He can be asked. So would you join me and ask God for more?

Send me a Text Message!This episode is all about joy. You will hear me say that I think we have seriously underestimated two things. We have seriously underestimated our need for joy and we have seriously underestimated God's capacity for joy. Listen, God has no desire to wake us up to our sin, our failure; He has no desire to wake us up to our dark thoughts or our undone good; He has no desire to wake us up to our shame and then just leave us there. God wants to awaken us to the fullness of joy that comes in His presence. Every true awakening leads to an awakening to joy. And as Nehemiah told them, "The joy of the Lord is our strength!" 

Send me a Text Message!Listen, I understand for some of us, parts of the Bible are hard to believe. You wonder if it's true. Some of it's even harder to understand and we run into all sorts of different interpretations of all the rules and the theology. Rules and theology which some people fight about so much, you wonder if they are even on the same team. I understand. God doesn't tweet or txt. He doesn't do facebook posts. He's old school. He  expounds and mystifies. Sometimes on purpose, I think, He's less than clear.  He shares stories that create questions and some of them are hard to read and some of them are hard to answer. He's not afraid of poetry or doubt or deep dark emotions. But I'm telling you that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And life comes from knowing God and when we know God we love His Word. So, open the Book with an open heart and see what He might do!

Send me a Text Message!Is there any Psalm more loved than the one that starts with these words, "The Lord is my shepherd and I will lack nothing." But here's the deal...I can't say those words without embracing these words, "And I'm a sheep." Now of course you are more than a sheep. You are a child of God filled with the Spirit of God. You are God's beautiful masterpiece, created and called to make a difference in the world. But you are, I am also a sheep. That's where we started in episode #2 of "A Life Refreshed" our look at the Psalms.And at the heart of the message are some thoughts on how we get from here (drained, discouraged, perhaps even a bit lost) to there, a life refreshed!

Send me a Text Message!Even if you are not sure you believe it, would you suspend your skepticism and consider the possibility that nothing's more important than hearing God's voice, letting His Words saturate our souls and if there is nothing more important than hearing his voice; no book is more important than His book, the Bible, the Word.  I know some of us need to be convinced, but honestly some of us just need to be convicted. Because while we wholeheartedly agree about the Bible's value; we open it halfheartedly. So in this episode we will ponder the questions, "Am I devoted to God's Words? Are we a people of the book?

Send me a Text Message!How many of us understand that it isn't easy being the first one to start something big? It isn't easy to be the first one to go to a new place. It isn't easy to be the first one to explore new strategies or climb to new heights or go on new journeys. It isn't easy to be the first one to pray for or live for or sacrifice for an awakening? In the history of our country we've often called those 1st-Ones, pioneers. They're the ones who left their homes with a spirit of faith; aiming toward an unknown  destination. Some of the very best chapters of our story have come when we lived with a pioneering spirit.Nehemiah 7 is a call to honor those who came before us, but it also asks us, "Do you have a pioneering spirit?"

Send me a Text Message!Nehemiah 7 contains a long, (kind of boring) list of names. But in this episode I just want to make it clear that no list of names is boring to God. Long ago, before all of the grand and awesome creation was even a gleam in Father God's eye, Paul says that God loved us and chose us. He created you in his image. He fashioned your heart with His heart as a model. At the beginning, the warrior-poet David wrote, as He formed you in your mother's womb, He dreamed dreams about your life and He looked forward to all your days. His plan for you has always been for good. Why? Because you are God's precious treasure. If you don't believe me, just listen in. 

Send me a Text Message!This episode is going to hit on a few of my favorite themes, calling, travailing prayer, revival, finishing well, and God's desire to do a new thing. You know I have found over and over again, that it's difficult, to finish well, if we aren't willing to lean into new things. And it's almost impossible to lean into new things, without being done with the old things. So my question is, "Are we done with the old things?" As a church are we done with the old things? I long to see the church shine bright like a city on a hill. I long for us to be known as the hands and heart of Christ. I still believe that the church that Jesus is building is the hope of the world. I want to be part of that church and I'm praying for that church to be done with old things. Do you know what the Bible calls being done with old things? It's called repentance. That's where we will end this episode, with a call to repentance. 

Send me a Text Message!As I have been doing, on More Than Bread for awhile now, when I preach on Sunday at Calvary, Monday's episode is that message. So we are just starting a teaching series at Calvary called, "A Life Refreshed." It's a look at the Psalms with the theme of...you got it, a life refreshed. If you are feeling drained, damaged, or a little bit of hope-less, you may find this one encouraging. The next episode we will be back to Nehemiah! 

Send me a Text Message!Don't worry, we're still in Nehemiah. We'll be in Nehemiah all the way to the end of Nehemiah. But I'm changing the series title, because the first half of Nehemiah is more about rebuilding broken places while the second half is more about rebuilding broken people.  I'm calling the series Awaken Revival, because those are two words that signify a move of God that rebuilds people. When it comes to rebuilding broken people, the job is never done! But what we find is that when Awakening comes, God gracious hand is not just for broken places, it's for broken people!

Send me a Text Message!In this episode we will ponder what it takes to finish well. That's one of the themes that I take with me from the first half of Nehemiah into the second half. John Ortberg writes, "The capacity to finish well is what the New Testament writers called endurance or perseverance....any truly meaningful human accomplishment  will require perseverance. Bobby Clinton defined finishing well as coming to the end of my life being more in love with Jesus than I was in the beginning; having a sense of the unique contribution that God has desired to work through me, and not flaming out through moral sin.None of that happens without perseverance. Finishing well requires a series of breakthroughs that only come with hopeful expectancy. What is the next step you need to take on the journey of finishing well? 

Send me a Text Message!So the wall was completed in 52 days. Pretty amazing, it so obviously involved the hand of God. No way they could do that, without the hand of God on them. So here's my question, again, "What work are we working, that requires the hand of God?" What work are we working that if it is accomplished, will cause everyone to say, "There must be a God. Because they couldn't do that on their own. I want to be part of a move of God that makes it impossible to stay seated when the opportunity comes to give God a standing ovation. 

Send me a Text Message!They did it. They did what seemed impossible. They worked at a work that would only work if God showed up and God showed up. They finished the wall in 52 days. In this episode I'm going to share one of my favorite stories. It's about a man named Dee Duke and the big boat that his father pushed. And it causes me to ask the question, "What's your big boat?"Where are you doing a work that just won't work if God doesn't show up?

Send me a Text Message! One thing that has impacted me in the last two chapters of Nehemiah is the reality that we do not know the whole story. In our arrogance or ignorance, sometimes we act like we know the whole story. But we don't, at best we see a chapter or two.  When you brush shoulders with people in the grocery story, jog past someone on the street, glance at the person stopped beside you at the light, just realize at best you are just seeing the cover of the book,  a page or two. You don't know the whole story.  Even when it's your story. You don't even know the whole story of your story. Sure you know more about your book than anyone else's but you don't know the whole story of your life. Because you aren't the author, God is!

Send me a Text Message!Nothing is beyond God. No problem is greater than His power. No sin goes deeper than His grace. No heart is so damaged, neglected or hard that He cannot breathe into it, new life. But it requires His gracious hand. Nehemiah's description of the story of his success was simple. "The gracious hand of God was upon me." We need his hand upon us, but here's the deal. "His gracious hand is on gracious people." That's what I see in Nehemiah chapter 5. You know some of us think that the word "if" is missing from God's vocabulary. But God uses "if" all the time. They are called conditional promises. And here is one of those conditional promises, (Proverbs 21:13) "If you close your ears to the cry of the poor, I will not answer when you call out." God's gracious hand is on gracious people!  

Send me a Text Message!The next chapter of the story God is writing in you and through you is primarily about building people, rebuilding marriage and families, and neighborhoods . It's all about rebuilding hearts. When it comes to church, facilities are tools. Programs and ministries are tools and it's good to have tools. But ultimately we have to ask the question, "How are we doing at building people, building Jesus-apprentices who live and love and lead like Jesus?"We are God's greatest building project. Make no mistake we're still under construction, but people are God's great treasure!

Send me a Text Message!There is work to be done and sometimes a battle (spiritual) to be fought. What should we do? Rush to the battle and God will fight for you. Listen if God is theauthor of my story, then trouble is not the story of my life. And here is the truth that goes beyond my story. God is not only the author of your story, He's the hero!I have heard it said that we should pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us. But I find that when I'm working like it depends on me, I rarely pray like it depends on God. Perhaps we also need to figure out what it looks like to work, like it depends on God? 

Send me a Text Message!In Nehemiah 4,  the people are half-way home, the wall is half-way rebuilt. But how many of us know that half-way home is sometimes the hardest place to be. Because half-way home, means we still have just as far to go as we've already gone. And if we aren't careful, we can begin to lose heart.Sometimes if we don't want to lose heart, we need to forget the rubble and remember God. I mean nobody wants to lose heart. We want to be renewed. We want to be strong, filled with hope. We know our stories have hard chapters, but we don't wan to lose heart. This episode will begin to talk about how we go through the hard times without losing heart!Don't lose heart!

Send me a Text Message!So if you didn't listen to my message from this weekend at Calvary, even if you usually take Monday off because it's not part of the normal episode, let me encourage you to listen. If you did listen, maybe this is a good one to hear twice. Not just for you, I'm going to listen to this one again. And I'll be praying,"Lord would you do it again!"

Send me a Text Message!There are two groups who didn't share in the story God was writing through the leadership of Nehemiah. The Nobles of Tekoa wouldn't put their shoulders to the work and the rulers of the region didn't want to give up control. The political leaders wanted power and the Nobles of Tekoa wanted comfort. Comfort and Control. I see this time and time again. Far too often, the church for which Jesus died, opts for comfort and control. The comfort of religious freedom has become more important to us than surrendering to spiritual faithfulness.  We don't need religious freedom to be spiritually faithful.The complete surrender of our lives is not radical Christianity, it's the base-line minimum.  When I look at Nehemiah 2 & 3, when I read the unfinished story that God is writing, it becomes painfully clear, that while God loves to use the broken and those in the margins of life, if we will not abandon comfort and surrender control, we'll miss His story.Which is a shame, because you are invited...into His story!

Send me a Text Message!Your story isn't finished. You need a team. But if you're not dead, God's not done. He has a team for you and a team with you. And listen to me, make no mistake, there will be times when the life you want more than anything will be outside of your hands. Your story will not be written without some twists and turns and even a few seemingly dead-end moments. Our journey will not be finished without walking through the rubble of brokenness. In fact, you will face times so difficult, that you can't do it alone. But if you're not dead then He's not done and if he's not done, your story has a team. And God is writing a good, good, really good story! He's inviting you to be part of that story.

Send me a Text Message!When God gives us a mission, the call to sacrifice is not far behind. Feeling bad will not save the day. It requires action, sacrifice, even risk. A good idea isn't good enough, it requires good work. Has anyone ever asked you the question, "If youknew you couldn't fail, what would you try to accomplish for God?" Perhaps a better question is, "What do you care about so deeply, that even if you are bound to fail, you would still have to try?"Here's the deal. If you take on a mission like that...you can't do it alone!

Send me a Text Message!Your story is unfinished AND...your story has a team. You are not alone. It may feel that way, but it's not true. Your story has a team. Sometimes we know the people on the team and sometimes we don't. Some of them are people you never met, maybe even long gone, an author, a Biblical mentor, an inspiring example from history. Some of them were on your team for a moment, some joined your team before you were born, and some teammates haven't even been born yet, but yourstory has a team. Some you work with hand in hand, some were family and some became family. They encourage you or pray for you or speak hard truths straight to your heart. They might be people who care about your cause. You work together, play together, pray together and grow together. You seek God together.  In fact this week, begin to make a list that answers the question, "Who is on my team?"

Send me a Text Message!The unmet longings of your heart are not a flaw, they are a gps for your soul. If you let them, they will keep redirecting  your heart to God. But this is what amazes me, "you have captivated God's heart." And before Lynn and I talk about the longings of your heart, I just wanted that thought to be in your mind, God loves being with you. And with that thought in mind, let me give you this prayer of longing. David writes this prayer in Psalm 63:1-8. David writes, he prays..."God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you...I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I cling to you."This episode is the Mother's Day message from Lynn and I this last weekend! Hope you enjoy!

Send me a Text Message!Listen, when it comes to the story God is writing in your life, your story has a team. We need each other. No one rebuilds alone. Walking through the rubble and brokenness of life alone, leads to discouragement. If we want to rebuild broken places, renew hope, and revive people, we need a team. In fact courageous leaders understand that God gives us projects to develop people. So share your life. Share the work. You need a team of people committed to growing together and sharing life together!As a leader, Nehemiah accomplished great deeds. But his story had a team. He made a difference because he got connected. If you aren't connected, you are missing out on the heart of God's story. Your story has a team!

Send me a Text Message!If our story is hard, is God still in it? That's the question I ask and answer, more than once, in this episode. Throughout Nehemiah's story, the opposition grows. From death threats to picket lines to deception and betrayal, Nehemiah's story gets hard. So what we find is that just because God is writing the story doesn't mean there isn't groaning with the glory. So don't be surprised by opposition to the story God is writing in your life. One of the great mistakes we make, comes when we believe that as long as we know what God wants us to do, the rest is easy. If your story is hard, God is still in it!

Send me a Text Message!I don't know what's ahead of us, here at Calvary, or ahead of you wherever you live. I wish I did.  I wish I could tell you what God's going to do in your region and how He's going to do it. But I can't. All I can do is tell you I believe that globally He's doing something deep and profound. He's preparing us for His gracious hand. For years, people around State College (where I live) have dreamed, some have even prophesied about Beaver Stadium (home of Penn State football) being filled with God's people. 100,000 people. In the past, I thought it was unlikely at best, impossible at  worst. But for the last seven years, every time that stadium comes to my mind, I sense Jesus say, "ask me for more." So I'm asking him for more. And in this episode I hope to encourage you to do the same. Ask Him for more!

Send me a Text Message!In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah makes this statement, "God's gracious hand was upon me." In other words, Nehemiah is saying, "This story was written by the hand of God. It wasn't my strategy, leadership or plan. It wasn't my resources, no it was the gracious hand of God." Isn't that the story we want written in our lives?  I don't know how God works with you, but often as I'm reading the Bible, whether it's my own time with God, or study time for a teaching, there will be a single line or thought that sticks with me.  Nehemiah's words here have stuck with me for well over a decade. They have become one of my most frequent prayers...God we need your gracious hand upon us. 

Send me a Text Message!If you have been following me for a bit, you know that the last few months, I've loaded my weekend message from Calvary on Monday's. Gives me a bit of a break and sometimes, it has fit right in with the current MTB podcast series.While this weekend's message, (and thus this episode) has absolutely no mention of Haggai or Nehemiah, I do talk about temples and sacred places. It's the concluding message in our "Homecoming" series that started in Palm Sunday, and it has a bit of a twist in the story. Instead of God welcoming us home...it's a challenge for us to welcome God home!Oh and for those who weren't able to be with us...it was an amazing Sunday. We baptized 14 people, prayed for college students, and worshipped our amazing Jesus! A good, good day!

Send me a Text Message!In the midst of all the rubble, all the pain, all the conflict, all the brokenness in our world, I am reminded of this. I am reminded that God is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Loving Father who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Spirit when scarcity whispers, protectwhat is yours. He is our Sacrificial Savior when we are not sure what love does. He is our Almighty King, our Redeemer and in the end, when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will made whole. Glory is coming and I am filled with hope. If you need a breakthrough, that's not a bad place to start!

Send me a Text Message!Are we owning our rubble? That's the question that will end this episode. Remember the BLESS acronymn that gives us some rebuilding, story-writing, principles? B is for "Be Still." L is "Look for the rubble." Nehemiah allows his heart to be saturated by the brokenness of people and causes. He looked for the rubble. But he didn't just look for it. He owned it. And owning it led to a turn of the page. We live a culture that has a hard time seeing our own rubble. We can see it in others, the other side, the other team, the other person. But when I see it in me, when I own it, that leads to breakthrough.So are you owning your rubble?

Send me a Text Message!You won't find much written on travailing prayer today. If you want to read about travailing prayer you have to read old books, and listen to old sermons, sermons and books birthed in revival. And yet, the Bible's pages are filled with examples of people who wrestled with God, travailed, groaned and cried out in prayer to see God's purposes birthed in their lives and the lives of broken people around them. Nehemiah wept. He mourned and fasted and prayed because of the brokenness around him. Not just broken walls, but broken lives. Because of broken lives, Nehemiah prayed with a broken heart. I don't believe we will find our breakthrough if we aren't willing to allow the brokenness that leads to travailing prayer. So Nehemiah's question of us is, "What wrecks my heart and stirs my passion? And have I ever allowed that brokenness to lead me to travailing prayer?

Send me a Text Message!In this episode, I'll start with a question for you to ask yourself, "When I look around at a broken world, what grabs my heart? What is broken in the world, or who is broken in the world, that breaks my heart?" Another way to ask that question is, "What is my holy discontent?" Sometimes, some of us...myself  included...we want to medicate our hearts so that we don't feel the pain of a broken world. We put walls around our hearts. What we need are hearts without walls that reveal the heart of God to a world in need of love. At Calvary we say that we want to be living proof of a loving God! Perhaps that starts by asking the question, "What is my holy discontent?"

Send me a Text Message!Over and over again, through the years, I've prayed Tozer's prayer, "Lord make me a person to whom you can entrust your glory." But Nehemiah is a reminder that we probably won't see His glory without some of groaning on our part. Awhile back, while pondering where I see God's hand in my life, I felt like He said, "Dan I can't trust you with my glory, if I can't trust you with my cross." I won't let you see me in the glory if you can't see my hand in the cross, in your weakness, in your groaning and suffering, in your story. If your life isn't finished, your story isn't over...but we won't find the glory without going through some mess. So is there glory in your story?

Send me a Text Message!Vance Havner, a preacher and revivalist born in 1901 once wrote these words,"The early Christians did not need a shot in the arm every Sunday to keep them going. They knew Jesus and they upset the world and worried the devil and gave wicked rulers insomnia and started something that jails couldn't lock up, fire couldn't burn, water couldn't drown, and swords couldn't kill. This world has never been moved by cold, calculating brass hats but by fools, with their facts on fire. We are suffering not from a lack of correct heads, but of consumed hearts."125 years later, perhaps we need more consumed hearts? If so, join me in praying, "God stir up our spirits!"

Send me a Text Message!Your story is unfinished. Sometimes we look at certain chapters of our life and we think, "That's the story of my life. We usually say those words in the midst of hard times. Sometimes we say them in despair and discouragement as we look at the broken rubble all around us. "That's the story of my life." But it's not.  If you are a Christ-follower, you have the very spirit of God in you. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven with full access to the God who is  your Father. You're not just a citizen, you're family. If your life isn't over, your story isn't finished. Maybe the opportunity is gone, the dream is done, but your life is not. The story God is writing is unfinished. Sometimes the difference between a sad ending and the next chapter is nothing more than the turn of a page. 

Send me a Text Message!You are sent to love people all the way to Jesus. It's not enough to be like Jesus, and love like Jesus, on the Jesus Way we are sent to love others all the way to Jesus. That's our purpose. That's our "why." What if the most critical issue facing Chistians today is that we don't know what counts, so we settle for a lesser life.  And in the process, we lose the wide-eyed wonder and awe of the radical Good News that we have as our Father God, an unstoppable force, a Dream-Releaser of "beyond imagination" power.  That we have in Jesus a, passionate Savior and Leader, who was willing to die to see God's story written in our lives. That we haveopen access to the very Spirit of the Living, Creator God.  When we forget what counts, we forget that we are sent to love others all the way to Jesus. That's our "why," our purpose!

Send me a Text Message!As we come to the end, I'll go back to the beginning to summarize. John 1. Jesus is the Word. Don't miss this, the connection between Jesus and the Word. It's a connection that goes beyond metaphor into the land of mystical.  It goes beyond symbolic into the land of supernatural.  There is a connection between Jesus, who is called the Word, and the Word which we call our Bible. It's almost like God  speaks and every time he opens his mouth, Jesus comes out. We can't love Jesus, if we don't love the Word.

Send me a Text Message!This episode is another weekend message from Calvary as we continue on our "Homecoming" series. It just so happens to hit John 21. Yes if you have listened to all of the episodes on John 21. You will remember that story. But it's one of my favorites, a powerful story of redemption that led to Peter living life with an amazing sense of purpose. If you weren't with us at Calvary, I hope it gives you a great concluding look at John 21. In many ways, this is one of the most amazing things that Jesus did after his resurrection. He made breakfast on a beach for his friends.After this episode, I'll do a summary episode or two on the gospel of John and then it's on to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah! Enjoy!AND if you want to join us packing 300,000 meals for refugees, go to packhopepa.com and sign up!

Send me a Text Message!I know you are probably getting a bit tired of this story in John 21. Almost done. :) But in this episode, I want to challenge you to enter the story. I want to challenge you to live your life in such a way that it attracts people to the fire of God within you. And then to let your fire burn in your communities through prayer with great dreams of what God could do, if we follow Jesus. To let that fire transform your marriage, the place you work, the churches you serve. To let that fire lead you to love and serve people with living proof of a loving God. I want to challenge us to be people who will passionately stand for God and set our hearts to be the real-deal for Jesus. In this episode, I'll give us three starting points, three kindling points for a burning heart on the Jesus Way!

Send me a Text Message! At Calvary we have a vision/mission to "build a church without walls." It's a CWOW vision. Part of our description of that puts it this way, "Envision a community so passionate about Jesus Christ and the glory of God that God doesn't just visit their community, He pitches His tent." And that's where it starts, such a passion for  Jesus and the glory of God that God doesn't just visit our community, He pitches a tent. He settles in for the long haul. It starts in an on-going encounterwith Jesus that leads to an overwhelming sense of the presence of God.And it requires a passion revolution in our hearts. God we need a passion revolution for the things that really matter!

Send me a Text Message!What I hope you will get every time you come to "More than Bread" is something more than bread. With all my heart I believe God wants to speak to you through this time. And then if you have been with me for a bit, you know that it's not enough to listen to His Words, we need to learn from them, and it's not enough to just learn from them, we need to lean into them, we need to put them into practice, we need to do what it says. So I encourage you every time you listen take something away, think through an “I will..." statement. As a result of this time, "I will – fill in the blank."And in this episode I hope your "I will" statement involves thinking through in some tangible how much you love Jesus.

Send me a Text Message!Every Good Friday at Calvary we have an immersive experience that we call the Way of the Cross. It's all about the the passion of Jesus. In the cross that passion is not just an overwhelming, emotional or even sexual desire. That's too often how we think about it. We think of lovers, physical attraction, desires so intense they give birth to physical manifestations. Our knees get weak, skin tingles, and our guts heave.But the passion of Jesus was not just an overwhelming desire. It was a courageous love willing to sacrifice. It was a fire in the gut, that could not be quenched. It was a burning heart of compassion for people and to embrace a cause that matters?So what's your passion?